Investments in R&D, the challenges of open innovation, the opening
to start-ups and clients as part of a co-creation logic. Plus, the hub of
technological innovation that responds to future challenges and supports the
tech valley. In addition, sustainable solutions featuring electric motors and
supercapacitors. For FARE INSIEME, Giampaolo Colletti interviewed the company's
CEO Michele
Poggipolini
di Giampaolo Colletti
@gpcolletti
They are
small, tiny, almost miniature, with a diameter of just a few millimetres. Yet
they are hi-tech with very high performances. To tell the history of one of the
most iconic and innovative Emilian companies, we must start from the details,
which often hide huge works of art. In this case, we are talking about special
titanium bolts and screws which even become hi-tech sensors. Smart elements
that feature sensitive elements to measure temperature and mechanical
behaviour. Nowadays those screws, as well as the other high-precision
components and systems designed and made of titanium and special steel alloys,
clock up miles in Formula 1 hypercars or fly across the skies on helicopters
and future flying machines. There, these screws are forged by Poggipolini,
which has been representing the excellence of high-precision mechanics for three
generations. Titanium screws, instead of steel ones, make vehicles lighter and
have an impact on engines, suspensions and transmission, thus playing a crucial
role in the current Motor Valley. A company that includes many stories strictly
related to them through a deep passion, the ambition of wanting to experiment
new things for hi-tech markets and a capability of understanding the current
situation and working together. Because, as the golden rule of open innovation
reminds us, together you can go further and win.
Hi-tech vision. Seeing what is not yet
there. And doing it, not just imagining it. Everything started after the First
World War, a new beginning made up of brave bets as well as of study, research
and vision. The intuition of Calisto Poggipolini lit up a flame, which kept
burning over the years and was handed over to first his son Stefano and then to
his grandson Michele, the third generation of the company born in 1984. His
father Stefano, now company president, took him to work there during the summer
holidays ever since he was fourteen. Michele Poggipolini is currently the company’s CEO
as well as the president of Confindustria Emilia’s Gruppo Giovani Imprenditori
(Young Entrepreneurs Group). “Over the past five years, we have made considerable
investments in growth with a speed that makes us stand out and enables us to
enter new markets thanks to the innovation concerning production processes,” explains
Poggipolini. There is a thread that links the beginning with that thirst for
innovation that enabled the transformation of a small Bolognese mechanical
workshop into a company boasting thousands of employees featuring engineers,
mechanics, administrative clerks and highly-skilled operators. Today,
Poggipolini is among the top ten global players in the hot forging of hi-tech
fasteners, behind US and French giants with a turnover of over €2 billion. Its
clients include Leonardo, Ferrari, GE-Avio, Safran, Mercedes, Boeing, McLaren,
Porsche, Lamborghini, Ducati and Bugatti. “Our passion has remained unchanged, just
like the will to tackle difficult challenges,to explore, to never settle, to look
for something that is unknown but that could become a new adventure. People are
what always makes the difference - our colleagues are an extended family. Our
teamwork makes projects flexible and scalable, so we can work on market niches
of great value, points out Poggipolini. Certainly a lot has changed over the
years: the company entered the racing world in the 1970s as motorbikes became
lighter, with Stefano who was a professional racer and who used the first
titanium screws produced by his father Calisto, which were later introduced
onto the market for sports applications with a clear objective in mind:
reducing weight, making bikes as light as possible to win on the racetrack. Not
a lot was known about titanium at the time, but it was innovative and it made
the difference, as one kg of weight spared means more speed. Poggipolini was
the first company to produce titanium screws and, in 1975, Ducati and Brembo
were the first clients. Then, in the 1980s, it entered the Formula One world
with Porsche and Ferrari, which went on to become its leading client for over
thirty years. In 1996, it started working for Augusta Elicotteri. “They
needed a supplier that could design and produce titanium fittings for
helicopters, and we were that supplier. When the Formula One regulations
changed in 2010, causing a drop in turnover of over 60%, the challenge was to
reinvest and focus on aviation as we decided to become leaders in the
manufacture of critical fixing systems. We therefore decided to focus on screws
and bolts and have become the sole Italian supplier. The key is a mix of
approaches: the co-design mode, the capability of working on innovative
materials, of always finding solutions and innovate production processes to
broaden horizons and take on a concrete attitude towards execution. So we
shifted many fixing solutions from Formula1 to aviation. It was not easy,
considering the processes and certifications, but we made it,” proudly
reports Poggipolini.
The innovation hub. Everything started with investments
in R&D: 15 million Euro invested
in the 2015-2020 period with an average that keeps around 20% of the turnover.
Today, there is a technological innovation hub called Speed Up Lab that meets
future challenges and supports the tech valley. The new Poggipolini home of
innovation is located within the new facility of San Lazzaro di Savena, in
front of the Manufacturing Center of Excellence inaugurated in 2019. It is a
research and experimentation centre open to start-ups, suppliers, clients and
universities. The objective is to work openly aiming at creating technological
solutions for the aviation, space, defence and new mobility sectors. “We have
always worked with open innovation even before it was called this, and now we
can say we have created the first Italian venture building with Sens In - our
innovative start-up working with Internet of Fasteners. Our team experiments
together with start-ups, some of which are excellent businesses dealing with
advanced processes such as 3D printing. This becomes an accelerator to test new
technologies and obtain innovative integrated solutions for our clients,” stresses
Poggipolini. But what is really striking is the production process: thanks to
the investments made since 2015, a hot printing production process for titanium
fastenings has been patented that can manufacture up to 100 screws per minute
against the 1 screw per minute of the process used up until now. The process
has been implemented in the new production site, called Factory of the Future,
which covers twenty thousand square metres. The process is fully in line, from
the raw material to the finished products and was inspired by the packaging
world. The process has taken Poggipolini to entering the fixed-wing aircraft
and premium car worlds as well as the world of hypercars. It makes the
company’s business model scalable, meaning it can now expand for external lines
and abroad. There is the will to design sustainable solutions for the future
also thanks to electric motors for new mobility applications as well as
supercapacitors, i.e. High-performance batteries. “These are all cutting-edge
applications. My ambition is to attract leading players from the aviation
world, even international ones, thanks to the human and technological skills of
this district,” concludes Poggipolini. The future runs fast, but it can be
reached more quickly if tackled together.
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